Top Russian athletes of 2014

Dec 29 2015

Alexey Mosko

RIR

The dazzling arrival of figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya, the victories of naturalized athletes, Daniil Kvyat's superb debut in Formula One, Maria Sharapova's successful return after injury: RIR looks back on the Russian athletes who shone on the world stage in 2014.

Andrei Karginov, truck racing

Source: AFP/East News

The
Russian KAMAZ-Master team's victories at the Dakar rally are no longer
surprising. In the truck competition the team has been the one to beat for years
now. This year the race was tight: The KAMAZ team, led by Andrei Karginov, was
battling the Dutch Iveco team, led by Gerard de Rooy, until the very last
minute. A great drama unfolded at the finish line: On the final stretch
Karginov, who was leading, was forced to stop and help a Chinese SUV that was
in an accident. Having lost precious minutes, Karginov let de Rooy drive past
him and finished second. In the end the judges deducted the lost time from
Karginov's overall result and the Russian driver deservedly won.

Yulia Lipnitskaya, figure skating

Source: Getty Images/Fotobank

In
February 2014, 16-year-old Yulia Lipnitskaya made the front pages of all the
world's leading newspapers, having impeccably performed a program to the music
of Schindler's List in the team competitions of the Sochi Winter
Olympics. The girl in red was praised by the audience and by experts, and even
by Steven Spielberg himself, who wrote Lipnitskaya a letter. Although the Russian
team received a gold medal, the brightest star was surely Lipnitskaya.
Unfortunately, the young athlete did not have enough poise to go through the
tournament smoothly: In the individual competitions she made some errors and
finished in fifth place.

In
November, Lipnitskaya created a minor scandal by not appearing at the award
ceremony of the Chinese Grand Prix, an event in which she had agreed to
participate. But the figure skater says that she was overly nervous and just
forgot about the event.

Victor Ahn, short track speed skating

Source: Getty Images/Fotobank

Victor
Ahn, a naturalized Korean, proved capable of making half of Russia fall in love
with him in just a few days last February. Ahn Hyun-Soo had come to Russia in
2011, after he could not make the South Korean national team due to an injury.
Having already been a three-time Olympic champion, the Korean wanted to
re-launch his career. Russian officials believed in the Asian athlete and was
quickly given citizenship and an opportunity to practice with the Russian team.

In the
end the results exceeded all expectations: In Sochi Ahn came in first in the
1,500- and 1,000-meter races and also played a decisive role in the Russian
team's relay race win. Having learned Russian, the short track skater has adapted
well to life in the country and has brought his wife to live with him in
Moscow.

Vic Wild, snowboarding

Source: Getty Images/Fotobank

Just like
Victor Ahn, American snowboarder Vic Wild came to the Russian national team in
2011. No one among the Russian fans had expected that exotic sports such as
short track skating and snowboarding would bring Russia medals. Yet the 28-year
old from White Salmon in the Washington State thrilled the Sochi public by
winning two golds, in the Parallel Slalom and the Parallel Giant Slalom.

The
snowboarder said that the Russian team had given him everything he needed to
train, whereas in the U.S.
he had run into difficulties with financing. In the United States, while
halfpipe and snowboard cross stars shine in the X-Games, making good prize
money and receiving sponsorship contracts, slalom boarders remain with nothing.
Wild's decision to take Russian citizenship was also influenced by his wife,
Russian snowboarder Alena Zavarzina, who in Russia won bronze in the Parallel
Giant Slalom.

Maria Sharapova, tennis

Source: Getty Images/Fotobank

Russia’s
number one tennis star started the year with an injury, but had a good season
and unexpectedly proved to be a strong fighter on clay: The victory at Roland
Garros, as well as some other clay tournaments, demonstrated Sharapova’s all-round
talent. However, she had to settle for less in the other Grand Slams: Each time
she was bedeviled in the fourth round. In Australia, at the end of the first
week she was stopped by Dominika Cibulkova; at Wimbledon, by Angelique Kerber; while
at Flushing Meadows in the U.S. the Russian could not get past Caroline
Wozniacki.

In the fall
Sharapova's fans were happy to see her in good form during the Asian series and
achieve victory at the China Open in Beijing. However, the final tournament in
Singapore was not a success - Sharapova could got second place, behind the untouchable
Serena Williams. By the way, the fact that the 2014 Grand Slam tournaments were
won by four different players perhaps hints that next year Williams’ hegemony may
be broken. And who, if not Sharapova, is capable of doing it?

Daniil Kvyat, motor racing

Source: Getty Images/Fotobank

Russia’s
Formula One sensation: Such a resonant epithet is hardly an exaggeration for
the 20-year-old native of Ufa, who in just one year has already made a name for
himself in motor racing’s blue ribbon competition. At the beginning of the 2014
season hardly anyone would have expected that a debutante would accumulate points
behind the wheel of the Toro Rosso car. However, Daniil Kvyat's perseverance
and concentration helped him regularly make it into the top 10: The success of
his debut in Australia was followed by other good performances in Malaysia and
China.

Formula
One’s big bosses recognize the Russian wunderkind's talent: Right before the
Grand Prix in Sochi, Infiniti Red Bull Racing head Christian Horner invited his
ward (Kvyat is a graduate of Red Bull's youth academy) to the main team,
replacing four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel, who moved to Ferrari. Behind
the wheel of a more powerful car Daniil will certainly have more opportunities
and 2015 may become decisive in his career.